14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung phones keep making the headlines these days, and this isn’t necessarily a good thing, mostly because more people seem to be complaining about devices that catch fire all of a sudden.
The most recent case took place in Norfolk, Virginia, where a 27-year-old student said her phone exploded in her car, while she was driving, even though it wasn’t plugged into the charger.
The phone in question is a Samsung Galaxy S7, not the edge version but the standard, and according to owner Shaunique Lamb, it was only connected to the in-car Bluetooth system that she used to listen to music streamed from a mobile app.
The phone was sitting in the cup holder when it started emitting smoke, and although no injuries were suffered, it did put the driver’s life at risk because the car was full of smoke while in motion, forcing her to instantly pull over.
Pictures showing the outcome of the explosion seem to indicate that the battery was at fault for the incident, though it’s not very clear how come that the S7 exploded given that it wasn’t plugged in.
No replacement phone
Overheating was most likely the cause, but Samsung says it needs to investigate the case and analyze the phone before determining what led to the device catching fire.
"Samsung stands behind the quality and safety of the Galaxy S7 family. There have been no confirmed cases of internal battery failures with these devices among the more than 10 million devices being used by consumers in the United States; however, we have confirmed a number of instances caused by severe external damage. Until Samsung is able to obtain and examine any device, it is impossible to determine the true cause of any incident,” the firm said in a statement.
What’s a little bit ironic is that the student no longer has a phone because when she took the exploded S7 to the Sprint store in Virginia Beach, she was told that replacing it with a new phone cost $200 despite its insurance.
There’s no information on whether Samsung offered a replacement phone during its investigation, but Lamb has said she’s afraid the company doesn’t take this case too seriously, despite the fact that the explosion could have had bigger consequences since it all happened behind the wheel.
